Pile fabric



July 2, 1935. L. CRABTREE PILE FABRIC Filed Aug.- 10, 1926 Patented July UNITED sT-Aras PATENT OFFICE-g PILE FABRIC Leonard L. Crabtree, Bridgeport, com, asslgnor, by memo assignments, to The Saltex Looms,

Application August 10, 1926, Serial No. 128,434 1 Claim. (Cl. 28-1) This invention relates to pile fabrics and parthan the lengths which constitute the knees or ticularly to upholstery plushes used as coveroverlying loops of thread passing across the latings for the seats and interiors of automobiles eral weft threads. This showing of the knees and other vehicles. with a lighter appearance gives what is called a B- One object of the invention is to provide a rinning throu h" of he ba k of e cloth a 5 pile fabric having a cementitious or viscous coatis present even though the and Weft threads lng applied to its back to fix the pile threads to are dy d black; the knees of the p t s the ground or body of the cloth to prevent them in h s m had as h pile i lf, but, as from pulling out. before explained, showing much lighter in fiat 1 Another object of the invention is to provide p it n han h upr h p le and h s making a pile fabric of the type specified in which the a contrast with the effective color of the pile. flock or pile on the face of the goods is stiffened s d t in th app a an f p l fabrics and supported in more erect position due to the as long been app e b as v ee coating on its back, overcome because, as before stated, it is neces- Further objects and advantages of the inven- 'y in a fast pile fabric o have the kne'es'of l5 tion will appear from the detailed description of the pile threa s x endin in 1099s jo'verlying the improved fabric and a preferred method of the weft threads in the gro n 01 1 the manufacturing the same as set forth in the folclothlowing specification which is illustrated by the In a l Pi fabric the D1 9 i -b into accompanying drawing. In the drawing: the und by s n lepi i m each P 20 Fig. 1 is a view showing a relatively small strip h d in looped nd r n fw t thread W hof-the coated fabric and illustrating its general Out overlying adjacentp f e W this appearance both on the face and back; reason the pile threads donot show in loops lying Fig. 2 is a magnified cross-sectional view showacross the p f the ground pf ief n v,henee ing the structure of the weave of one type of thereis no. grinnin h- The bil there o fabric embodying the present improvement and ha a better ap a a n h o he hand,

the manner in which the coating is applied thereloose pile fabrics are not suitable-"for upholstery;

to; and goods since the pile is not securely and'perma- Fig 3 shows a preferred method of weaving n n vbound into the ro n Orbaek 0f the so the fabric to which the coating is applied. c oth. Mor o e i loose pile f ic e p Pile fabrics such as upholstery plush are usualends do not stand as erect so that the surface of I 1y woven with a mohair or worsted pile, or a the 0 0 d e not present so d n p arcombination of the two, and heretofore it has ance. d n h h i th same' cap y been considered necessary to produce them with resist wear as in a, fast pile.

. a fast pile weave in which the pile threads are The present invention is more particularly di- 35 interlaced with and bound under a plurality of rected to improvements in sci-s il d o s P the weft threads in the body of thecloth. In fabrics and contemp ates the ane ih b a generallyused type of weave the pile threads ing of the pile into the ground or back .of the are interlaced with four weft threads and this cloth by means of acementitiousoi' Viscous 40 takes up a considerable amount of the pile yarn ing, for example, a'cellulosecompoundsuch as 40 which is the most costly element ofthe cloth. DY10Xylin.

That is to say, a large percentage of the pile ma- Referring to the drawingjFig; 2 a longiv terial is taken up by the "knees" which loop tudinal sectional view'or proflleof one type of repeatedly over andunder the weft threads,' loose pile fabric constituted by.- longitudinal these knees serving 't'o bind the pile firmly into ground warp threads 2.; lateral weft threads 3" 45 the ground or back of the fabric, but on the other interwoven therewith, and pilethreads Q looped. hand not adding in any way to the .cover to around the weft threads. land standing erect orv render the pile more dense. in perpendicular relatiori';with respect to the-body'- all'fast pile fabrics where the of the or ground of the fabric. i Each-pile {is pilepass above the weft threads they show bound under a singleweft 3 by means of 50 through on the face of the cloth and have a 'lts loop or knee 5, and the ehdsetthe pile threads.

- lighter appearance in color than the" effective are brushed or frayed outto' 'nin'glefin the stand-- shade or color of the piece. That is to say, in ing tufts as shown. This typelof. loosev pile fabric looking at a pile fabric one looks into shadow may be produced with any suitableweave, a preso that the standing pile threads appear darker ferred method being to weavethe fabric double," I

in the manner as conventionally illustrated in Fig. 3. Inthis view two sets of warpyarns 2 extend in parallel relation one above the other, with the weft. threads 3 interwoven respectively therewith; while the pile warp yarns 4 are interlaced over and under the weft picks of the two different fabrics, and crossing therebetween form the pile floats 6. The two opposite fabrics are thus woven face to face and are cut apart in the loom by a reciprocatory knife which severs the crossing pile floats 6 at points intermediate the two pieces of cloth, whereby the pilends are left standing on the face of each piece. It is. to be understood, however, that other methods of weaving the pile fabric may. be employed with equally. good results, the present showing being by way of example only.

The coating compound may consist of a solution of pyroxylin and vegetable oil, or in other cases may be a rubber composition or any other viscous fluid of a cementitious nature capable of adhering to the back of the fabric and hardening thereon.

As usually applied,- the cellulose or pyroxylin compounds are spread on to the backof the fabric with a "doctor blade, the cloth being sometimes passed over a rubberroller and under the blade which presses the cloth thereagainst. In applying a rubber compound the usual procedure is to pass the fabric between a pair of calendar rolls which squeeze on a thin layer of the coating.

Fig.2 of the drawing illustrates the invention as applied to the so-called loose pile weave, in which the pile threads 4 are looped under single picks of weft 3, and the knees 5 formed by the pile loops appear on the back of the goods and do not show on the face or finished surface of the cloth. When the coating is applied to the back of a fabric of. this type it wil. impregnate and penetrate between the interlaced threads to a certain degree; not, however, passing through the weave to such an extent as to show on the face of the goods; The cementitious coating is hardened or set by subjecting it to the drying action ofheat and thereafter it acts as a binding agent to amalgamate and unite the threads in the bodyor ground of the fabric. The knees or loops 5 of the pile threads 4 are thus cemented to the other threads forming the structure of the ground fabric and the pile is therefore made fast to prevent the individual ends from being pulled out. It has also been discovered that when the coating is applied to the back of the fabric in the manner as previously explained it has a tendency to hold the individual threads from creeping or moving out of place and also acts tobrace and stiffen the pile so that the ends. stand more erect. This results in, giving the pile a denser and more lofty appearance. thereby enhancing the general effectiveness of the goods. With the present improvement, therefore, an ordinary loose pile fabric, which, as before explained, may

- be manufactured at much less cost than a fast pile fabric, is rendered fully. as durable and wearresisting as a fast pile fabric.

As will be seen by reference to the drawing, the fabric includes only the regular ground warp and weft threads together with. the pile warp threads. In other words, the fabric is devoid of the extra threadswhich-have hitherto been employed for the purpose of securing the loose pile Vs against pulling out of the grounder assuming a non-erect position therein under the influence of frictional wear. This prior practice is exemplified by the United States patent to. Reixach, No. 442,749, dated December 16th, 1890,

where the use of such extra threads in the formof additional warp threads, and the purpose thereof, is clearly shown and described. As set forth in the said prior patent, there are employed as many of the extra or additional warp threads as there are pile threads, so that this manner of proceedingin the effort to fixfthe loose pile Vs flrmly in the ground has entailed greatly increasing the number of warp threads for any given quantity of fabric with its necessarily great increase in material and labor. An-

extra wefts in position. In this prior arrangement the number of weft threads 'isincreased by an amount equal to the number of weft threads over which pile threads are looped, and

the number of warp. threads is doubled, so that this amplification of Reixachs procedure still further, and to a very large amount, increases the required material and labor. It is believed that these concrete illustrations from the prior art are sufficient for the purpose in hand, but it may be added that the above named Pearson patent takes note of-the desirability of the V-pile weave as compared with the well known W-pile weave,

from the point of view of economy of pile threads andappearance, and that it also explains the unsuitability of the V-pile weave, from the point of view of wear, because of the backing out or pulling out of the pile Vs. My invention obviates all this extra material and labor and substitutes therefor the simple procedure herein indicated which involves merely the application of a thin coating of cementitious binding material to the back of ordinary loose V- -pile fabric woven, as illustrated, without the extra or additional threads. This, as is well known and will be understood by all those skilled in the art, is a very simple and cheap operation both in labor and material. The result of my invention is a fabric of the kind indicated which is produced at a great saving as compared with the prior practice. of using extra threads, and in which .the loose pile Vs are better secured against movefabric itself is of better appearof the pile Vs as those parts adjacent the proximate ground warps.

Further advantages of the present invention will suggestthemselves to vehicle body-builders and others skilled in the upholstery arts, and it is to be understood that the present improved fabric may be applied to otheruses than those herein specified. 7 It is also to be understood that various modifications may be made in the character of the weave'of the fabric, in the com-' position of the material used as a coating, and in the method of applying the coating, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, without limiting myself in these respects, I claim:

A textile pile fabric intended for frictional and substantially uniformly spaced interwoven loose warp pile V's each looped about a single 'weft thread but not interlaced with the ground so as to be thereby firmly held therein, said weft threads being spaced no further apart than the diameter of the pile threads and alternate weft threads being in contact with the ends of intermediate pile Vs, said fabric being devoid of extra. or additional threads which would normally be necessary to secure the Vs therein and to render the fabric suitable for frictional wear, whereby, due to the absence of said extra threads, the vs would be liable to assume a less erect and less uniform position and to pull or push out of the ground when subjected to frictional wear, said fabric embodying a thin application of cementitious binding material on the back of the ground which penetrates the interwoven threads but does not conceal the weave and unites the loops of the We with the interwoven ground warp and weft threads to anchor the Vs against pulling or pushing out of the ground or assuming a less erect or less .uniform position, whereby the fabric is rendered suitable for frictional wear and its uniformity and appearance are improved without sacrificing'its folding and rolling characteristics.

LEONARD L. CRABTREE.

- (seal CERTIFlCATE OF CORRECTION,

Patent No. 2, 007, 078. July 2, 1935.

LEONARD L. GRABTREE.

It is hereby certified that error, appears in the printed specification of the above I numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 3, second column, lines 4 and 5,

the claim. strike out the words "but does not conceal the weave"; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 20th day of August, A. D. 1935.

Leslie Frazer Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

